More than 50 articles vetted for May 19 Somerset Town Meeting

Selectmen and other town officials recently reviewed more than 50 prospective articles for the May 19 annual Town Meeting, and plan to finalize them Wednesday night.

Town Counsel Clement Brown summarized the articles, noting that approximately half the warrant has to do the town’s financial and related business each year.

Town Clerk Dolores Berge is reminding citizens the deadline to register to vote for the annual Town Meeting and the May 12 town election is Tuesday night. The town clerk’s office is open until 8 p.m. for registration.

Berge said only residents not registered previously need to sign up.

Article 8, as listed, contains the municipal budget, K-8 school budget and water department budget, while articles 11-13 are for the regional schools: Somerset Berkley, Diman and Bristol Aggie.

The fire department’s EMS/ALS has a separate article; there are several sewer articles, half a dozen revolving fund articles and four from the assessors’ office, including annual approval of tax exemptions.

Among the unique articles listed and likely to be heard are the required amending of flood plain areas and zoning that will be the subject of a Planning Board hearing Tuesday night.

Town Administrator Dennis Luttrell said the 20-year solar farm project for Wilbur Avenue, which he’s been negotiating for several months, could require land changes for town voters to amend what’s currently 23½ acres.

Authorized months ago by selectmen to pursue a contract with the designated solar partnership, Luttrell said there’s potential for the town to save $17 million in electricity costs over 20 years while providing town buildings and schools with electricity.

There are five citizen petition articles. One that generated the most questions from the audience Wednesday night pertained to appointing a reuse and redevelopment advisory committee as an arm of the Economic Development Committee.

Although that article seems likely to be passed over, the focus on reuse of Brayton Point, scheduled to close in three years, and the former Montaup power plant, closed four years ago, raised continued concerns.

Christopher Murphy of 268 Longhill Road asked why officials had allowed work at the old Montaup site on Riverside Avenue to be conducted while the new group that bought the property a month ago owes more than $400,000 in back taxes.

“There’s nothing in place that forces them to buy the property without paying taxes,” said Selectmen Chairman Donald Setters, a real estate company owner and former assessor.

“The taxes will be satisfied by someone at some point,” Selectman Scott Lebeau said.

He and Brown said the state Department of Environmental Protection had issued approval to the new owners, Somerset Riverside 1606 LLC, headed by Everett businessman William Thibeault, to address asbestos and hazardous waste on the site with some remedial work.

Town officials said a meeting with Thibeault’s representatives last week had been canceled and they were awaiting a new date to meet.

Other citizen petitions include establishing Board of Public Safety and Board of Public Health commissions to handle many of the duties of selectmen, along with expanding the Board of Selectmen from three to five members and reversing what voters did in March to combine the elected treasurer and tax collector into one appointed job.

The action for an appointed treasurer-collector is pending approval through a home-rule petition.

Six accounts are listed for closing out infrastructure bond borrowing under one article, there’s a possible street acceptance and a drainage easement for Daisy Court and three personnel bylaw articles address changes in public library positions, an upgrade request for the recreation director and a discussed title change for the Council on Aging’s second in charge.